http://www.torontosun.com/2015/04/02/pcs-need-young-new-leadership-godfrey-says-in-endorsing-brown
TORONTO - Expressing frustration over four general election losses in a row, two high-profile Progressive Conservatives have thrown their support behind leadership candidate Patrick Brown.
Paul Godfrey, president and CEO of Postmedia Network, and Derek Burney, former Canadian ambassador to the United States and chief of staff to former prime minister Brian Mulroney, officially endorsed Brown on Thursday.
Godfrey said the two MPPs campaigning against Brown for the leadership are capable, but the party had dropped to just 10,000 members under their stewardship.
“They’ve had a shot at it,” Godfrey said. “This party needs young, new leadership.”
Godfrey said he was not speaking as a newspaper executive — Postmedia is in the process of purchasing Sun Media, which owns the Toronto Sun — but as a long-standing Conservative.
Brown has a proven track record of signing up tens of thousands of members to the Ontario PCs as part of his leadership campaign, Godfrey said.
The young Conservative MP will also be able to attract votes from labour supporters, urban residents and multicultural groups — a necessary attribute to lead the party to government, he said.
Burney said he’s supporting Brown because he believes a change is needed, both in the leadership of the provincial PC party and in Ontario government.
“This is a man who’s got a pragmatic focus on the issues of concern to people in Ontario and he’s got sensible ideas on things like economic growth, health care, education, power, energy ... they’re being badly, badly managed by the current (Liberal) government,” Burney said.
Ontario PCs will vote for a new leader in early May, and their choice will be announced at a convention in Toronto on May 9.
MPP Christine Elliott, who has received a lot of support from her caucus colleagues, and MPP Monte McNaughton are also seeking the leadership.
McNaughton noted he has gained the support of Toronto Councillor Rob Ford, who has a strong following in the city.
Elliott said she’s proud to be supported by former PC premier Bill Davis.
Brown said he has brought in more than 40,000 new members — more than his competitors — and drawn support from within the nurse, police and firefighter unions.
Many labour groups across the province actively campaigned against the PCs in last spring’s election, as the party vowed to eliminate 100,000 public sector positions.
The 2007 election campaign went south after the party promised to fully fund faith-based education.
“I believe our party needs a reset — it can’t be the same-old, same-old approach,” Brown said. “And not being involved in any of the past policy disasters, I believe I can bring that fresh start to the party.”